


Talented without Proper Conduct

by SweemyClod



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Annette being a crying mess, Anxiety Disorder, Bc i love them but dont really relate to em, F/F, Gen, I dont ship it but, ITS ANNETTE'S PARTY AND SHE CAN CRY IF SHE WANTS TO, Mentioned Hanneman von Essar, Mentioned Sylvain Jose Gautier, Mercedes being just so good, Nor is there hot dog water, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Short, Soup, Sweet, Sylvain Jose Gautier Being An Idiot, Sylvain Jose Gautier is a Mess, Sylvain tried magic, TEA PARTY FOR 1(ONE) SAD GIRL, Tea Party, You can read it romatically i suppose, and almost killed his teacher, hot dog water - Freeform, there is no soup in this story i have lied, to the point, written for experience writing these two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27143764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweemyClod/pseuds/SweemyClod
Summary: Then, Mercedes realized she heard sobbing. Reserved sobbing that tried so hard to be quiet and contained.It was coming from Annette’s room.Knocking on the door with the back of her hand gently but with purpose, Mercedes called to her friend with concern ringing in her sweet voice. “Annette? Annette, it’s Mercie.”
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Mercedes von Martritz, Annette Fantine Dominic/Mercedes von Martritz
Kudos: 15
Collections: Fire Emblem: Three Houses by SweemyClod





	Talented without Proper Conduct

Mercedes was making her way to Annette’s room excited for their usual Thursday afternoon tea party. She had some Sweet-Apple Tea, one of Annette’s favorites, fresh from the foreign merchant as well as a gift Mercedes impulse bought when she laid eyes upon it. The gift was a beautiful hair clip the same light blue color as Annette’s eyes. Thinking about the hair clip and what Annette’s reaction would be, Mercedes’ smile grew wider as she approached her friend’s room, gaining a skip in her step. 

Then, Mercedes realized she heard sobbing. Reserved sobbing that tried so hard to be quiet and contained.

It was coming from Annette’s room. 

Knocking on the door with the back of her hand gently but with purpose, Mercedes called to her friend with concern ringing in her sweet voice. “Annette? Annette, it’s Mercie.” 

There was a brief pause in the sobbing as the troubled girl behind the door audibly tried to collect herself. With some sniffling, Mercedes heard quiet shuffling before the door was opened.

“H-Hey, Mercie.” Annette greeted awkwardly, smiling lightly in spite of her tears and puffy eyes. Her smile couldn’t betray the slight quivering of her lips, clearly seeking to fall into a frown. As the small girl let Mercedes into her room and shut the door, she apologized between sniffles and rubbing her eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry Mercie... I knew we were having our tea party today and I tried to hold myself together, but it all just came out…”

Mercedes shook her head, concern in her eyes. “Annette, it's all right.” She began, setting the gift and tea aside on her friend’s desk. Walking to her friend’s bed and sitting on the edge, she patted beside her. “Come here.” 

The small girl approached with sniffles, kicking her shoes off before climbing on her bed. This made Mercedes remove her shoes as well to be polite. She was much more focused on consoling than her etiquette. 

Annette sat with her legs hugged close to herself, with her head placed so her eyes met her knees. She didn’t want to cry any more, and her skirt made for a great tissue to soak up her tears.

To Mercedes this was a hard sight. Annette was clearly trying to minimize the space she took up, something that made Mercedes recall their old days at the sorcery school. When Annette felt embarrassed or sad, she would pull into herself to avoid being in the way of anyone. The memory almost made Mercedes cry, but that wouldn’t help her friend. She needed to be her rock. 

“Is it alright if I asked what happened?” Mercedes asked. There was no need to clarify that she wasn’t intending on prying. Annette knew her so well from their years as best friends together. It was simply to open the needed conversation.

“I… I just…” Annette began, slightly pulling her head back from her legs so Mercedes could hear her. “I messed up horribly. We had to feed the horses and pegasi, and I got something wrong… basically I…” The small girl began crying harder again, causing Mercedes to wince. 

“I mixed up the feed and the animals all got sick! And then, it doesn’t stop there. The Professor asked to cook with me and I wasn’t thinking, and...” With another break to sob she returned to blocking her sight with her knees. She continued in a high pitch, whining. “I almost burnt their hand. Badly. I turned the stovetop up too high, and they noticed and got their hand away but…” She looked at her friend with such sorrow in her eyes and voice. 

“There’s more, but… I’m just so messed up… things like this happen all the time for me. I’m smart and studious, but where does it get me when I do things like this?” Annette asked. “I… might leave Garreg Mach for everyone’s sake…” She continued, eyes now downcast.

Mercedes shook her head. “Annette, you're so capable. You mess up sometimes, but everyone does once in a while.” 

“But no one messes up like me! I bet no one has ever gotten all the animals sick, nearly burnt their professor…”

Mercedes paused as she recalled a memory. “Do you remember when Sylvain tried magic for the first time?”

Annette shook her head. “I may have heard about it but I don't recall.”

“Well,” Mercedes began with a light giggle. “He was a bit overconfident. And excited. Hanneman joined in, excited for Sylvain’s excitement to learn. But he didn’t realize he was,” and with this was another giggle. “Fanning the flames, shall we say.”

This received a small smile from Annette who was attentively listening though still lightly sniffling. Her tears had ceased for now. Mercedes noticed Annette’s lips were no longer quivering.

“Anyway, Sylvain used a Fire spell and almost hit Hanneman. Everyone was fine, but being lit on fire here might be easier than you think.” Mercedes explained lightly, a hand now on the smaller girl’s back. She was lightly rubbing in a circle as a way to comfort her. “We are training for war, after all. We’re all in constant danger even if it’s not present all the time.”

“But…” Annette began, looking slightly away with a frown. “There’s a huge difference between that and almost lighting someone on fire from cooking.”

“I wouldn’t say so.” Mercedes responded. “They’re equally as embarrassing, but not equal in potential harm.” 

She paused, looking up just a bit. Recalling wording chosen by Hanneman after the incident with Sylvain, Mercedes continued her sentiment. “But then you have the differences between the setting of cooking and training dangerous spells. A burnt hand is something that can happen while cooking, and being burnt by a Fire spell can happen when you’re new to magic. Both are inherent to possibly happening within their respective scenarios.”

Annette’s gaze had slowly become one of consideration as she listened to her friend without eye contact. No longer crushed into a ball, Annette had moved more comfortably into a normal sitting position with her legs dangling off her bed and hands firmly on her knees. She returned her friend’s gaze. “Those were… heavy words Mercie.” 

Mercedes giggled before responding. “I was just recalling what Hanneman said to make Sylvain feel better and I enjoyed the angle.” With a smile dulcet and warm as Sweet-Apple tea, Mercedes continued. “You’re a smartie and I knew you would respond to it.”

An embarrassed smile lit upon Annette’s face and warmed Mercedes’ heart. “Thanks, Mercie.” The small girl said as she looked away again out of light embarrassment. Her gaze lowered again as doubt crept back in her mind. “Still… I really messed up for not only the animals but also everyone at the stables. That’s not some small thing that they’ll forget about.”

Mercedes slightly shook her head and placed her free hand upon Annette’s, the other paused on her friend’s back. She leaned forward to see her friend’s face. “As well as small mistakes, everyone has their big ones they and others won’t forget about. I remember Sylvain’s mess up because it was fairly recent but I don’t think poorly of him for it. He wasn’t intentionally aiming for Hanneman and was inexperienced in the topic.” Pulling her hand from Annette’s back she grasped both her friend’s hands to speak earnestly and make a big point. Light blue eyes met violet blue.

“It may have been embarrassing and you may have wanted to die of said embarrassment, but you are okay and we all still think well of you. At no point were you  _ trying  _ to make the horses or pegasi sick, it all happened on accident. Anyone that hates you because this happened truly doesn’t have their priorities in line and likely is not worth talking to anyway.” 

Annette’s tears flowed again, but out of sheer thankfulness for Mercedes. “Mercie-e…” She whined with a hiccup to follow. “T-Thank you so much…”

Pulling in her small friend for a big hug, Mercedes pet her hair lightly as Annette cried gently against her torso. “I love you, Annette… and I’ll always be there for you.”

\---

When Annette was ready, the two had their tea party with Mercedes’ fresh, Sweet-Apple tea. Honeyed biscuits were provided by Annette. 

Even in spite of the preceding mood, dried tear streaks and puffy eyes, their joy together was not unsettled. Mercedes' gift of a hair clip, however, created some brief tears. 


End file.
